It has long been known in gas turbine technology that good fuel atomization for ignition and low speed acceleration is an important requisite. A start injector is usually provided for this purpose but, under the conditions encountered at start up and low speed acceleration, performance can nevertheless prove to be far less than satisfactory. In this connection, the main fuel atomization is usually poor particularly at low altitude on cold days considering the viscous nature of fuel.
As a result, it would be desirable to add another start injector to insure sufficient fuel atomization for achieving satisfactory ignition. However, this would be a very difficult and expensive retrofit problem and, therefore, is not a satisfactory solution for the many gas turbines already in use. For this reason, it would be most desirable to provide a two-start injector capability requiring only simple modifications to a standard start injector.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the above stated problems and accomplishing the noted objects by providing a unique gas turbine fuel injector spray nozzle.